A Life of Music and Financial Lessons
Jona Lewie, a 78-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, has left an indelible mark on the music industry. He is best known for his 1980 Christmas hit “Stop The Cavalry,” which sold nearly a million copies in the UK and was a top-five hit across Europe. This year, the song is being featured in Morrisons supermarket’s TV advertisements, showcasing its enduring popularity.
Lewie also wrote the Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs hit “Sea Side Shuffle,” which reached No 2 in 1972, and had a solo hit in 1980 with “You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties.” He currently resides in London with his Australian-born partner, Julie, and their son Julian, who is 25 and works as a tennis coach in Australia.
Lessons from Childhood
Growing up, Jona never faced financial hardship but also wasn’t wealthy. His mother, Isabella, a housewife who lived to 89, and his stepfather, Calvin, a Brixton town hall executive secretary who lived to 84, instilled in him a deep respect for money. They taught him that money can be easily lost if overspent, much like butter melting in the sun.
Despite experiencing wartime and postwar rationing, by the 1960s, his stepfather could afford a new Triumph Herald, a car of some distinction. This showed Jona the value of careful financial planning.
Struggles and Survival
The music business, however, is unpredictable. Even after having a No 2 hit in 1972, Jona found himself struggling financially four years later. At his lowest point, he walked from his bedsit to a local Co-op and took a slab of cheese because he was hungry but broke. However, he only did it once, joking that he didn’t want the police to be reading this!
Since then, he has been cautious about his finances, always watching the pennies to avoid falling into debt.
Financial Highs and Lows
While Jona hasn’t been paid “silly money” in the traditional sense, he has earned well from various sources. For instance, he was paid pretty well by Ikea to rerecord “You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties” for a 2010 TV advert. Additionally, when a German singer named Bernd Cluver covered “Sea Side Shuffle” and renamed it “Holiday Girl,” it topped the charts in his homeland, selling a million copies. These royalties helped him buy his first house.
However, Jona notes that when you start earning more, you also face higher taxes, which can bring you back down to earth.
Best Financial Year
According to Jona, the best year of his financial life was 1981, the year after “Stop The Cavalry” was released. The song sold around 900,000 in the UK and over three or four million in Europe and Australasia. It also topped the charts in France the following summer. Even now, Jona gets a thrill when he hears the song being played during the holiday season.
Expensive Fun Purchases
One of the most expensive things Jona bought for fun was a Fairlight Series III keyboard/synthesizer, which he purchased for around £70,000 in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the value dropped immediately upon purchase, and within three years, it was worth only £15,000. Despite this, the instrument helped him create the music he wanted at the time.
Biggest Money Mistake
Jona’s biggest financial mistake was losing £30,000 on a Hargreaves Lansdown investment in the Woodford fund, which collapsed in 2019. Since then, he has been an Isa man, focusing on safer investments.
Best Financial Decision
His best financial decision was buying a £1,000 Polymoog synthesizer on London’s Denmark St. This instrument was crucial in writing “Stop The Cavalry” and “You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties.” He recorded “Stop The Cavalry” in his Brixton home studio before adding brass band music in a professional 24-track recording studio.
Future Plans and Legacy
Jona believes that wealth should be passed on to children, as it is wrong to penalize success built through hard work. He and his partner plan to do just that.
Pension and Property
Jona doesn’t have a private pension and only receives the minimum state pension. His publishing royalties serve as his main source of income. He owns a triple-fronted house in Streatham, south London, which he bought outright for £125,000, as well as a small holiday apartment on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Thoughts on Policy
If Jona were Chancellor, he would push for multinational companies like Amazon and Google to pay more tax to support the NHS. He also expresses a preference for Rishi Sunak as a better chancellor than Rachel Reeves.
Financial Priorities
Jona’s number one financial priority is keeping his finances in order to avoid the stress that comes with money problems. He recently played a couple of gigs this year and hopes to tour next year.